Homeowners assess damage from deer in Ottawa county house

GEORGETOWN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WZZM) - Now that they actually see what a deer did to the inside of their house, Clifford and Sara Nicholson says it's bad, but not as bad as they feared.

"It could have been a lot worse," says Clifford.

"It's just things that can be replaced," says Sara. "It's just stuff."

The Nicholsons were visiting their daughter in Chicago for Thanksgiving when police called to tell them a big doe had broken through the glass front door of their home on 24th Avenue.

The muddy deer, bleeding from the broken glass, was inside for about 15 minutes before finally forcing a window to escape.

"I called them back and the deputy said there was blood all over the place," recalls Sara. "I was thinking about my white carpet and white couches."

Neighbors boarded up the door and secured the house until the Nicholsons returned home Friday to assess the damage.

"And I thought, 'What can I do about it?'," smiles Sara. "It's over, it's done and that's the way it goes. What's really important is we have a one month old granddaughter. That's what is important."

Because the front door is glass, the Nicholsons believe the deer could see through their house to the lake beyond their back deck and probably thought the shortest path to the water was through their living room.

"For some reason she ran right through the front door," says Clifford. "Now it's just a matter of getting things back to the way they were."

The doe jumped 14 feet from the back deck of the house and finally did reach the lake.

She was last seen swimming across toward some woods on the other side.